Ten Minutes and Counting
by ShadowLordCC
Summary: A Janto fic I wrote for a friends birthday! Children of Earth ripped out my heart. Had to fix it somehow. It's 10 years after the events of Children of Earth and Captain Jack Harkness has somewhat rebuilt a life. He's getting on with things. New team, new hub, new him. Then the dead start talking and soon, Jack is getting a phone call from someone he saw die years ago. ENJOY!
1. Chapter 1

Captain Jack Harkness sat in his chair, swivelling. His elbows rested on the sides, fingers knitted in front of his face, just under his nose. He kept his eyes on the computer on the desk in front of him. The desk was too high for his liking and the keys were set too close together. He shifted his weight on the chair and huffed as it squeaked and bounced. He missed the old hub.

"Jack I'm going to get a coffee! Do you want one?" A familiar voice called from behind him and his eyes flickered in the woman's direction.

He shook his head. Captain Jack avoided coffee now. The beverage stirred up too many memories. It was the good memories that hurt more than anything. It was those little moments where he had been perfectly happy. Jack hadn't felt that way in years. Decades, even.

"Could be polite about it!" The woman shouted behind her shoulder as she left the underground building.

The new Torchwood 3 hub was larger, roomier. The equipment was more expensive and developed. The heating and cooling systems were more effective. Despite all these improvements, Jack found himself longing for the pterodactyl that used to fly about overhead. He smiled to himself as he remembered the fun he'd had catching that thing. It had been the first time he'd really paid attention to Ianto Jones. It had been the first time that Jack had seen him as anything other than another irritating kid. And the coffee that he made…

Jack gripped the chair. He didn't want to think about Ianto. In fact, Captain Jack Harkness had spent a great deal of time trying not to think about Ianto. He never wanted to forget, but a bit of peace would be nice. A few moments without Ianto's death lingering over him like one of those clouds in cartoons. Everything seemed to remind Jack of Ianto.

Everyone from that old team was gone now… except Jack. Jack would never die. He had to go on. He could have done anything, but he had decided to come back to Torchwood. He had chosen to get another team together. There had been a few changes in members over time. No one ever really lasted long in this job. Well, no one except for Jack.

"Jack," a tall man leaned in the doorway, staring at Jack with those gorgeous green eyes.

Jack looked up. "Alan, is something wrong?" The first time Jack had met Alan, he had pulled out a stop watch. Jack barely remembered a thing the man said and didn't even register hiring him. Alan had been even more surprised than Jack, who had explained the decision by saying that Torchwood needed a doctor, which was the truth.

"No," he dug his hands into his pockets and pushed off from the frame. "I was just wondering… When's your birthday?"

Jack chuckled. "Trust, me, you wouldn't be able to fit enough candles on the cake."

Alan walked over to his boss. "That didn't answer my question," he said, leaning in so that his nose was merely millimetres away from Jack's.

Jack just pushed off backwards and stood up, heading out to see how everyone was going.

They had stumbled across a large group of Weevils recently. Some had been dead, some alive and in the centre of the group, had been a man.

Just a man, small and mousy looking with glasses. He had scarpered when he'd seen the Torchwood team, stopping for a moment to rake his eyes over Jack.

Everyone sat hunched over files or searching through databases. Lis slid off her chair and smiled at Jack. Everyone always smiled at him because he always seemed like he needed cheering up.

"Any news on those Weevils?" Jack asked the blond woman, leaning over the balustrade.

"Sorry Jack," she shook her head. "There's been no abnormal rift activity and I can't find any matches for that description! It's like the man doesn't exist!" Lis threw her hands in the air in frustration.

"Alan!" Jack spun around. "Got anything Doc?" he asked, gesturing to the Weevil body that lay on the slab, the contents of its stomach splayed on the floor around it.

Alan ran a hand through his hair and hopped lightly down the stairs into the tiled area. "As a matter of fact, I did find something a bit odd," he said, eyes raking along the alien body.

Jack stood in silence for a moment before realising that the other man wasn't going to continue speaking. "And that was…?" he urged.

"Oh right, sorry," Alan folded his glasses and tucked them into the top pocket of his shirt. "Well, it was… already dead."

Jack looked at the screens on the wall. "What? Like, a zombie Weevil?" He couldn't help thinking of Owen. Doctor Owen Harper who died and came back to life. Of course, something like this wouldn't have brought Owen down. Owen managed to break his own fingers without feeling a thing.

"Yeah, like a zombie… Only all of its body was still functioning as if it was alive. It was breathing and digesting its food without being alive…"

Alan crossed his arms and looked at Jack expectantly.

"Jack!" LIs shouted. "Our mystery man has been sighted!"

"Where?" Jack asked, bounding up the stairs.

"In the graveyard…" She pulled up a picture and enlarged it.

"Jesus Christ… What is he doing?" Alan leaned in to look at the photo more closely.

It showed a man, leaning over a hole in the ground, a shovel beside him and a few terrified people in the background.

"Is he grave robbing?" Jack asked.

"I don't think so… The lady who took this photo reported hearing a voice coming from the grave. She said it was like the body was talking."

"This woman, has she got history of mental illness?" Jack started swaggering off, hooking his thumbs into his braces as he went.

"No, but there's more!"

Jack didn't stop.

"Jack this woman heard them say Torchwood!"

Jack stopped. He started walking backwards and peered at the photo again. A dead guy that knew about Torchwood… and told someone about it… AFTER they were dead! "Let's go." He said and grabbed his coat.

They all filed in behind him.

"Danii, we're going to the cemetery! Meet us there!" Jack spoke into his ear piece.

"But what about coffee!? I just got it!" he heard her voice and smiled. She was always so excited about coffee. She didn't fuss over it like Ianto always did, but she liked it. Not that she really needed it… she was hyper enough already.

"Bring it with you," Jack hopped into the driver's seat of the black SUV and waited for the others to get in. "And we're off!"


	2. Chapter 2

Danii was already there when they arrived, a few coffees sitting on the fence in their cardboard holder.

"Thannnnk you," Alan grabbed his coffee and went through the gate.

"What are we here for Jack?" Danii asked, handing the other coffee to Lis.

"Apparently our mystery man was talking to a corpse about us," he raised his eyebrows and grinned, gesturing for her to go before him.

The police were there already, blocking off the grave with tents and tape. As usual, it was raining.

Jack wiped a few drops of water from his coat as he ducked inside the tent. The men standing inside looked at him in unison. They stared at him with blank faces.

"Torchwood," Jack said and they parted for him, letting him move to the grave side. He crouched down, tucking the bottom of his coat up, out of the way so it didn't drag in the mud. The coffin lid was off and the man inside looked about as dead as you could get. Jack reached forward and pressed his fingers to the man's wrist. No pulse.

Alan gently lifted the eyelids. "Jack, he's dead. Why are we fussing about some dead guy?"

"Because he was talking about us." Jack stood up and looked around. "Where's the woman?" he asked Lis.

She pointed to a woman with long brown hair who stood just outside the tent, staring around in wonder.

"What happened?" the woman asked as Jack headed over to her. "It was all some stupid prank wasn't it?"

"What's your name?"

"Fiona Hemerdy…"

"What exactly did you see Fiona?"

Fiona looked around uncertainly. "I… this man came over to the grave. He told us all to stay still. He said if we ran… he'd hurt us," she paused and started playing with a strand of hair. "He dug up the grave and opened the coffin. He did it so easily… He reached out a hand and closed his eyes. Then there was a gasp from in the coffin and the man asked a question…"

"What did he ask?" Jack folded his arms.

"He asked about Torchwood… 'What do you know about Torchwood?' he said… and… the body replied," her voice was little more than a whisper. "The man in that coffin started…screaming. He said he knew nothing. He was asked about specific things too… The man said he didn't know the answers and then… he just went quiet." Fiona glanced up at Jack. "Can I go home now?"

Jack nodded and she walked off, quickly.

"Could that explain the whole, dead Weevils thing?" Danii came up behind him and he jumped slightly.

"Maybe… Danii, tell everyone that it was all a joke. That's what they think it was anyway, they'll believe it."

"What are you doing?" Danii asked as Jack started to walk away.

"Thinking." With that, Captain Jack Harkness swaggered over to a bench and sat down, not caring about the water that had been pooling on it.

Danii watched him for a while, but Jack ignored her. She went away eventually.

Jack sat there in silence for about half an hour. When he finally looked up from the ground, he wasn't any closer to figuring out what was going on.

The grave was filled in now, the police had gone and Lis and Alan were fiddling with some gizmos. Danii stood by the grave stone, running her hands along the word that had been inscribed.

Jack wasn't sure that filling in the grave was the best idea. Part of him thought that that woman was actually still 'alive', just like Owen was. It was all done now though and Jack couldn't really do anything about it. There was a man out there, who had the ability to resurrect people, and that was just plain wrong.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Jack!" the person on the other end croaked. "Jack it's you!"

"Who is this?" Jack stood up.

"Finding this number was almost impossible," the person –man – continued. "After your phone was destroyed I suppose, you had to get a new one."

"Who is this?" Jack repeated. "Are you the one who's been doing all of this?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," the man whispered. "Jack it's me…."

"That REALLY doesn't help, you know."

Alan looked up and Jack shifted his gaze.

"It's Ianto."

Jack fell silent. He hadn't recognised the voice. He was sure that he would have recognised Ianto's voice. It was the voice that had featured in his dreams so many times. This couldn't have been Ianto. Jack was sure of it. "What do you want?" he asked, turning so the others wouldn't be able to see his face.

"Jack it really is me!"

"Who are you!? What do you want!? How dare you use that name!" Jack whispered furiously. He didn't think he'd ever felt this angry before. It was as if the blood was boiling in his veins.

"Jack please," the man on the other end whispered softly. "Please don't do this to me!"

"What. Do. You. Want?"

There was silence and Jack almost hung up. Then there was a cough and the man said, "I want you."

"What for?"

"Just meet with me, I need to talk to you," he sounded different now. His voice was stronger and yet, he sounded as if he'd been defeated.

"Where?" Jack asked, voice shaking.

"Remember where we caught the pterodactyl? Turns out they haven't knocked that place down yet…"

Jack could hear it now. He could hear Ianto's voice, Ianto's words. Jack went to say okay, but has to clear his throat before the word would actually be audible. Jack hung up and stayed there, staring at a large stone angel.

"Jack? Are you alright?" Danii was right behind him.

He turned. "I have to go," he said and left.

"Go where!?" Danii shouted after him, but he ignored her.

Walking along the path with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his pants, Captain Jack found himself hoping. What if it really was Ianto? What if Ianto had actually managed to…

Jack looked down at his shoes. He couldn't think like that. It couldn't possibly be him… and even if it was, Ianto had been dead for a long time now and would hardly even resemble the man that Jack had... loved. Jack shivered, though not due to the cold. If he walked in there and saw some rotting corpse he would puke. There was no way that the thing waiting for him would be Ianto. It was just another alien that had slipped through the rift.

He didn't realised until he'd reached the building, until he was standing inside it. It was exactly as he remembered if a bit run down. He looked up from his feet, kicking at the dust on the floor. He had no clue what to do now. "Hello?"

"Jack?" Ianto's voice echoed around the building. A figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light. "You came," he said, obviously relieved.

Jack's breath hitched in his throat and he took a stumbling step backwards.

It was Ianto. Not an alien, rotten corpse or skeleton, but Ianto Jones. He was wearing black tracksuit pants and a Hawaiian shirt with only a few of the buttons done up. His hair was ruffled and his feet were bare. He looked down at his clothes. "These were all I could find," he tugged on the shirt self-consciously. "I had to steal them…"

Jack stared wordlessly at the man in front of him. It isn't him… It can't be him, he told himself. This was all going to go horribly wrong any second.

Ianto took a deep breath. "Jack, please say something. You know I'm not much of a talker…"

Jack tore his eyes away from the man. "You're not Ianto."

"I am."

"You can't be. Ianto Jones is dead."

"It's me, Jack why don't you believe that!?" Ianto looked at Jack with pleading eyes.

"Because you are lying." Jack couldn't take this anymore. He turned to stagger away.

"Fine then! Run away!" Ianto called and Jack felt a tear trickling down his cheek.

He wiped it away with a hand and kept walking.

"Oh and by the way," Ianto's voice echoed. "Love the coat!"

Jack's heart seemed to skip a beat and he stopped. He glanced back at Ianto who was smiling slightly. "Ianto?" he asked quietly. "It's really you?"

Ianto nodded.

Jack turned around and walked back to him, heart pounding.

Ianto grabbed the front of his coat and pulled him close.

Jack pressed his lips to Ianto's and kissed him. It was something that he had missed. He felt himself smile slightly as he pulled back. Jack knew that he was crying, but he didn't care. He hugged Ianto, running fingers through his hair.

"It was so dark Jack," Ianto whispered. "There was nothing there."

Jack kissed the top of his head and swayed on the spot slightly. "I know."

They stood in silence, wrapped in each other's embrace.

"How long was I… dead?" Ianto whispered, running a hand down Jack's back.

Jack thought momentarily about lying to him as he had lied about so many other things, but when he opened his mouth, he spoke the truth. "Over ten years."

Ianto shuddered. "Gwen and Rhys… are they…?"

"Growing old together?" Jack asked sarcastically, pulling back so that he could see Ianto's eyes. "What do you think?"

Ianto looked down. "And have you…? I mean, has there been…?" Ianto couldn't get the words out. He felt as if he were choking on them.

"Has there been anyone else?" Jack suggested and Ianto nodded, closing his eyes so that his lashes brushed his cheeks. "No," Jack let his arms fall to his sides. "There was never anyone else for me."

Ianto stood back and looked at Jack. "You look older," he said.

Jack smiled. "You don't."

"How about that then?" Ianto's breath came out as a laugh as he walked back to the wall, sliding down it at into a little heap on the cold floor.  
Jack sat down beside him.

"I'm empty Jack…" Ianto whispered, his voice cracking. "I can't feel my heart beating."

Jack reached over and took Ianto's hand. He pressed his fingers to the inside of his wrist, praying that he would feel something. Nothing. There was nothing.

"Can you feel anything?"

Again, Jack thought about lying. It would be so easy to tell Ianto that he had felt his pulse. It would be so easy for Jack to make Ianto happy. Then everything would be right and Jack could be with him. He looked at Ianto. His eyes were red and cheeks damp with tears. He hooked his finger with Ianto's. "No," he said.

Ianto closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wall. "So I'm still dead then… Oh God… Jack what if I'm like Owen?" He opened his eyes and glanced sideways at Jack who staring at him.

Jack shuddered and looked down at their intertwined hands. He rubbed his thumb slowly along the back of Ianto's hand. "Can you feel that?"

"Yes…"

"What about this?" Jack leaned forward. His hand slid around the back of Ianto's head and he pulled him closer.

Ianto closed his eyes as his lips met Jack's.

Jack broke the kiss reluctantly and looked Ianto in the eyes, wiping the tears from his cheek with a thumb.

"Yeah… I felt that," Ianto hiccupped.

"Then you're not like Owen. Besides, you're breathing aren't you?"

"How does that work?"

"No idea…"

"Jack, why am I back?"

"I don't know that either," Jack felt kind of useless.

"I liked your old coat more," Ianto whispered after a short silence.

Jack looked down at his coat. It was still old fashioned and military style, but it wasn't quite the same as his old one. He hadn't thrown the old coat away after Ianto's death, but he'd put it away. After he got sick of every little thing reminding him of Ianto, he'd put it in a box at the back of his closet. The new one was darker, much closer to black than the old one, and it was shorter, with more buttons. "This one is much easier to replace… I've been in a lot of dangerous situations recently.."

"And you've… died?"

Jack nodded.

"How many times? Hundreds? Thousands?" Ianto gave Jack's hand a squeeze.

"I don't keep count."

"Don't you? That's new," Ianto smiled despite the situation and Jack chuckled.

"What happened, Ianto?"

Ianto's smile disappeared. "There was this man. I just… woke up as if I'd been asleep and he was leaning over me. He grabbed me by the collar and asked my all this stuff about Torchwood. I didn't say anything Jack. I promise." He looked to Jack for recognition of this fact before he continued. "He told me that he could take my life as easily as he'd given it to me. I kicked him in the balls and ran for it. He chased me a bit, ripped the suit that I was wearing and stuff," he gestured his mismatched outfit.

"And he just… gave up?" Jack sounded surprised.

"I know… It doesn't sound right does it? I feel like I've only got a certain amount of time here… and I don't know what I'm supposed to do with it."

"You're not going anywhere," Jack said and rested his hands on his knees to stand up. He held a hand out to Ianto and pulled him to his feet.

"Let's get you back to the hub."


	3. Chapter 3

Ianto felt wrong. The world around him seemed kind of fuzzy and Jack's voice echoed too much for his liking. Jack felt miles away though they were holding hands. He followed Jack out into the street, ignoring the pain that was slowly building in his feet. They were cut and bruised. He'd had to ditch the shoes he'd been wearing after he'd jumped off the peer to avoid that creepy resurrecty man.

Jack walked in front almost dragging Ianto along.

Cardiff felt unfamiliar. Everything had changed. Of course, that was hardly surprising… Ianto wondered when they'd rebuilt Torchwood 3. He wondered if it was much different to the old hub. Ianto felt like a ghost, walking through the streets, but not really being a part of them.

"Welcome, to the new hub," Jack said as they came to a stop.

Ianto looked around. He had no idea where he was. He felt so lost. The only thing familiar to him was Jack. Although, even Jack had changed. There hadn't been any obvious changes, but there was just something different about him.

Jack grinned at Ianto and he felt blood spill into his cheeks. How did that work? How could his blood be circulating without a heartbeat? Jack tugged him on. "We couldn't put it in the same spot as before. No one knows where we are now, which is a plus, but we don't get the perception filter." They walked down some steps and stopped again out the front of a concrete wall.

"No scenic route?" Ianto asked, genuinely disappointed.

Jack smiled. "Sad isn't it?" He reached forward and pressed a button that Ianto hadn't noticed.

In fact, there were lots of things that Ianto hadn't noticed about this wall. The most important thing being that it wasn't a wall at all. It was a door. A concrete door set in a concrete wall. It had no handle and the button that Jack pressed had been grey.

The door slid aside and Jack pulled Ianto through. It slammed shut behind them and slowly, one by one, the lights turned on, illuminating the corridor.

"I'm not sure if the others are back yet," Jack said as he led them through the winding corridor.

"New team huh?" Ianto stumbled after Jack, a little disoriented by the bright lights.

Jack didn't reply. He pulled them to the right suddenly and Ianto felt his head spin. They were standing in an elevator.

"Are you alright?"

Ianto put a hand out to steady himself. "Yeah… No elevator music?"

"I did ask, but the suggestion met a lot of protest." Jack punched a code into the keypad and the elevator lurched into life.

They stood in silence. Well, almost silence. It would have been complete silence if it weren't for the whooshing of wind as the elevator dropped downwards.

The doors dinged open and Ianto staggered out.

"You hungry Ianto?" Jack asked stepping to the side and into a room that Ianto had missed.

Ianto's stomach growled in reply.

Jack laughed and came back holding a box of pizza. He dodged in front of Ianto and led him out into the open space.

Ianto staggered back in surprise. It was massive. All white, clean and neat with something that looked very much like a rift manipulator running through the centre.

Jack took him by the shoulder and guided him towards a grey couch.

Ianto collapsed in relief and took the pizza box from Jack. He felt shaky and unwell. He'd felt awful when Jack had shouted at him. The coat thing had been a last resort. He rested his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. He let it out then and started sobbing. He felt Jack's hand on the back of his head and started sobbing harder.

Eventually, Jack left. Ianto ran his hands through his hair and let out a scream. He felt wrong. He was wrong. He was dead, but not dead. He wasn't a zombie. He wasn't a ghost. He wasn't alive. He was nothing.

Once he had calmed down a bit, Ianto took a piece of cold pizza out of the box. He nibbled at it slowly, not sure if the food would stay down.

The sound of the door whooshing open floated into the space and footsteps came down the hall.

Ianto quickly wiped away his tears and stared down at his feet.

"Who, are you?" A man stood in front of Ianto. He was tall and thin with glasses and short brown hair.

"I… I'm…" Ianto cleared his throat and got to his feet. "Ianto. Ianto Jones," he held out his hand and the other man shook it cautiously.

"Dr. Alan Harland," Alan said without smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"He's with me," Jack's voice came from behind and Ianto turned to watch as he came over to the couch carrying a bundle of clothing. "Here, you can change into these."

Ianto took the bundle and started at the clothes curiously.

"It's one of your old suits… Couldn't bring myself to throw it away."

Ianto nodded and went to get changed into the clothes. He felt much more like himself after he had changed and Jack beamed at him as he came back to what had turned into a small group.

"Alan's going to take a look at you," Jack said, gesturing to the doctor.

Ianto nodded and followed wordlessly.

A few test later, Ianto found himself standing by a coffee machine. He sighed and closed his eyes as he ran his hands over the familiar machinery. He remembered this and made five coffees within minutes.

"Jack doesn't drink coffee," a woman said, coming up to him.

"Doesn't he?" Ianto looked back, eyes widened in bewilderment.

"Nope… I'm Lis by the way," she smiled at him kindly.

"Jack always loved the coffee I made…"

"How do you know him Ianto?"

Ianto looked down at the liquid swirling around in the mug in front of him. "We worked together," he said quietly.

"Do you know who he is?" She leaned against the counter and took one of the mugs.

"I thought I did… But… He hides everything from everyone. I don't think I'll ever know who he is," Ianto took two mugs and carried them over to where Jack was standing.

Jack took the mug wordlessly and closed his eyes as he took a sip. He smiled. "I've missed your coffee," he said.

"I'm GOING to miss it," Alan sighed, drinking from his own mug.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," Ianto said without taking his eyes off Jack.

There was a long silence and Ianto's stomach tied itself in knots. "I'm not going anywhere am I?" He turned to face the doctor.

"You're dead, Ianto. You can't stay like this for long."

"No… No I'm not dying. I am NOT dying again!" He shouted.

"You're already dead!" Alan shouted right back.

Ianto turned back to Jack. "I don't want to die again Jack," he whispered.

Jack chewed at his lip and put down the mug. He stepped closer to Ianto and pulled him into a hug. "I'm not letting you go anywhere. You're not leaving me."

"You should get some rest," Alan said, finishing off his coffee.

"I've been resting for the past ten years! I don't need to sleep!"

Jack held him tighter as Alan took out a needle. "You really do need to rest."

Ianto tried to break free from Jack's grip, but Alan was too fast for him. Ianto found himself getting very sleepy, very quickly and soon had to collapse into Jack's arms.

Jack tried to sleep that night. He curled up next to Ianto and listened to him breathing, but his mind wouldn't stay quiet. He kept thinking of the worst possible scenarios. He gave up trying to sleep and padded into his office. He collapsed into his chair and started spinning around aimlessly. Restless, Jack stood and got dressed. He grabbed his coat and left. He knew he'd be back before Ianto woke up.  
It was cold outside and extremely dark. The concrete stairway had nothing to light it up.

Jack stood for a moment, hands in pockets, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He trudged up the stairs, watching his breath become foggy in the cold air. He headed for the peer. A short walk would do him good.

Ianto was standing at the top of the stairs, hands behind his back.

Jack couldn't see anyone else there and yet, Ianto looked terrified. His eyes were red and wide. Jack sped up.

Ianto shouted something but he was too far away and his words were lost. He wriggled his shoulders and frowned.

Jack knew that something was wrong.

"Jack, don't!" Ianto shouted and this time Jack heard what he said.

Jack started running.

"NO! Run away!" Ianto screamed and his legs seemed to buckle under him.

Jack heard the bang and felt the sting of the bullet before the nothingness came once again.

He gasped as the world swam back into focus. At first, it was as though no time had passed, but as he remembered the darkness, it felt like an eternity. His head stung viciously as the bullet found its way out of his skull and the wound healed. It always hurt. His lungs burnt as they filled with air and he lay flat on his back, panting.

"Welcome back sir," Ianto's voice came from close by. "Good timing."

Jack pushed himself up and had a look around. "Where are we?" he asked groggily.

Ianto stretched out his neck. "I don't know… a warehouse of some sort… Jack, this man can control the weevils," Ianto said, rattling the chains that bound his hands.

"Now, now pretty boy… don't give away my secrets," a squawking, nasally sort of voice came from right behind Jack and he felt a pressure on his wrists. The man who had spoken unclasped the hand cuffs and circled around until he was in Jack's view. He pulled Jack's arms in front of him and cuffed them again.

"Who are you?" Jack asked.

"I am much more than anyone ever imagined…" he said, a far off look in his eyes. He snapped his focus back to Jack almost immediately. "My name's Ned," he said.

Ianto snorted quietly. "What sort of name is that?"

"Yeah, could have gone for something a bit more… well, cool," Jack nodded and Ned struck out with an elbow. Jack grunted and flopped onto his side.

"Mr Harkness," Ned crouched down and grabbed Jack by the collar. "I want know all about Torchwood Mr Harkness."

Jack spat in the small man's face.

A hand shot out and Jack fell again. "What are you?" Jack gasped.

"Such personal questions so early in the relationship," he muttered disapprovingly, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I'm just another thing that slipped through the rift Captain."

"So… you're an alien?" Ianto questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, but don't think I'm going to tell you what kind… I hear you have special… technology…"

Jack rolled over. He twisted out of Ned's grip and jumped to his feet.

"If that's how it has to be…"

Jack was grabbed from behind and forced to his knees. His head was pushed down and he could hear Ianto shout in pain.

"Let him see," Ned said.

Fingers hooked into his hair and Jack's head was yanked back. He looked up and saw Ianto, lying on his back, pale as a ghost, eyes unmoving.

"What have you done?" Jack hissed, stomach dropping. He tried to free himself, but the unusually rough hands that held him just wouldn't let go.

"I have taken his life away."

"NO!"

"No need to be so loud about it Captain. It's no big deal," Ned leaned over Ianto's lifeless form and placed the tips of the fingers on his right hand in the centre of his chest. "I can give him life as easily as I took it away…"

Ianto gasped and his back arched. He panted and rolled his eyes back so that he could see Jack.

"Of course, he's only half alive right now. No heart beat… I could leave him like this, I suppose… That would be almost the same as killing him… Worse, even."

"How is that worse?" Jack spat out and struggled against the Weevil that was holding him in place. He knew it was a weevil. Ianto had mentioned something about this man controlling them. Also, he recognised the snarling.

"He's only half in this world Captain. One day, the echoing voices and strange fuzziness will drive him mad and he will take his own life."

"I... Would… Never… Do...That," Ianto rasped.

Ned ignored him. "I could always bring him all the way back," he placed a finger over Ianto's heart and Ianto's eyes widened. "Feels good doesn't it Mr Jones? That thudding in your chest…"

Ianto nodded soundlessly and Jack tried to rip free of the Weevil's grip.

"Now, why would I want you to feel good?" the crazy man said, smiling and showing yellow teeth.

Ianto stilled. The colour drained from his face and his eyes seemed to glaze over.

"No!" Jack shouted, lurching forward. The weevil held him still and Jack heard the grunting of more weevils behind him. "Bring him back! Please!"

The man slammed the palm of his hand onto Ianto's chest and he gasped back into life again, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Do you want to know what else I can do?" His voice crackled manically.

Both Jack and Ianto shook their heads furiously.

Ned pretended not to see and adjusted his circular glasses. "You're going to like this Jack… I can bring him back… Forever," the last word was merely a whisper and Jack had to strain his ears to hear it. A crooked finger placed over the heart and a little zap of blue light.

Ianto screamed and writhed. He shouted for help and tried to kick out. Sobs wracked his body and what seemed to be blood trickled from his eye.

"Ianto!" Jack smashed his foot back into the weevil that was holding him, forcing it to let go. Ianto's screams filled his ears as he rushed towards the insane man. He grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him away from Ianto.

Ned turned and pressed his hand to Jack's chest. "I can take it away you know," he whispered, tracing circles with a finger. "You could be mortal again…"

Jack stared down at the man. "Why would you do that for me?"

"Now, it would be no fun, me telling you like that…"

Much to the alien man's surprise, Jack pulled out a gun and pressed it to Ned's head. "Make Ianto mortal. Make him alive and safe… and mortal."

"Where did that gun come from? I checked you over for weapons!"

"Not everywhere," Jack said. He gave the loaded gun a little shake and Ned came back to his senses.

"Okay," Ned said carefully and balled his hand into a fist, jabbing it just under Ianto's ribs.

Ianto screamed again and he squirmed on the floor as if he were chained down.

Jack winced. He tried to restrain himself, but it was too much. "Stop it! Stop hurting him!"

Ned took his hand away and Ianto lay there, perfectly still apart from the rising and falling of his chest.

"Is he… Is he mortal?"

Ned nodded and smiled. It would have been a nice smile if his eyes hadn't been full of hatred. Ned stood again and pulled Jack in close. "Why don't I have a bit of fun with you now?"

Jack watched as Ianto staggered to his feet behind the crazy alien man…

Ianto slammed into Ned, causing the small man to stumble and his glasses to come flying off. Ianto ran. His head was pounding and his skin felt as if a thousand tiny needles were pricking him, but he didn't stop. He shoved past the weevils blindly, narrowly avoiding their crushing jaws.

There was a shout. There was a bang. Ianto felt a sharp pain in his back, and then he his legs gave way. He skidded across the smooth floor and slammed into the wall.

"Ianto!" Jack called out and Ianto heard a commotion behind him.

Jack rolled him over and held him.

"What… happened… Jack?"

Jack looked down at him but didn't say anything.

"Oh God… He shot me! I'm dying aren't I?" Ianto groaned as he connected the bang to the pain shooting up his spine.

"Yeah," Jack said softly.

Ianto nodded. He was glad that Jack had started telling him the truth. He'd always hated the secrets. "What happened to…? Ned?" he winced as the pain in his back increased and his vision blurred.

As if in answer, there was a loud rawr from the other side of the warehouse and a loud thumping of footsteps.

Jack pressed a finger to his ear. "Danii, Alan, drop whatever you're doing and come find me. Bring a LOT of weevil spray," he said. He paused as he listened to the reply. "Where are we?" He looked at Ianto who shook his head slightly.

The pain worsened suddenly then, and Ianto slipped out of consciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

When he blinked the darkness away, Ianto remembered dreaming. He dreamt of the pterodactyl that was responsible for getting him a job. He dreamt of the way he'd been lying on top of Jack and how embarrassed he'd felt. In the dream, the pterodactyl was talking to him. It was nonsense and Ianto couldn't remember it, but that's what made him certain that it was a dream and not just a memory. He sat up and stared around, confused. You don't dream when you're dead, do you? At least, he didn't remember any dreams the last time he'd died. As he looked around, he thought that maybe he was still stuck in a dream. That perhaps he was not quite dead yet and this was just his brain trying to hold on to life.

Jack was in the middle of the warehouse, struggling against the mousy looking man and a group of ten weevils.

Ianto watched in horror as one of the aliens clamped its jaws down on Jack's neck and ripped out a huge chunk of flesh. Blood splattered everywhere and Jack fell to the ground.

Then three people crashed into the building, holding large canisters of weevil repellent. They sprayed the stuff everywhere and the weevils shuffled away. They backed into a dark corner and stayed there, groaning as the stuff was sprayed at them. Out came the guns then and the weevils scattered.

"Don't run!" the nasally voiced Ned shouted. "Help me!"

The weevils refused to listen. Whatever he'd done to gain their allegiance before, it was no longer working.

Ianto pushed against the wall and scrambled to his feet. He ran to Jack's side.

The raw flesh at Jack's neck was visibly repairing itself, the flesh growing back and the skin knitting together. In just over ten minutes, Jack's neck was whole again.

"Why aren't you dead yet?" Ned spat, dull brown hair flopping in front of his eyes as Alan grabbed his wrists and yanked his arms behind his back.

"Maybe you're a lousy shot," Jack gasped from on the ground as his eyes flew open.

Ianto frowned and ran his hands over his back as best he could with the cuffs getting in the way. He twisted his head around to see his fingers come away red with blood. Ianto's back exploded as the pain came back all at once.

Jack sat up and wriggled around so that he could inspect Ianto's wound. He gently lifted up the back of Ianto's shirt, peeling it away and prodding at the bloodied, red skin around the wound. The bullet was buried in deep and the muscle it had torn its way through was red and jagged. As Jack watched, the wound stopped bleeding and the little bullet seemed to be wiggling. "What the….?"

"What?" Ianto asked trying to twist around.

"Stay still… Alan come look at this!" Jack called out.

Alan, who had been trying to find out what Ned was, looked up from his beeping device and, pushing his glasses up his nose, came over to the others.

Lis shouted something about having to do all the hard work and squished Ned into the ground with her foot.

Alan crouched down beside Jack and peered at Ianto over the top of his glasses. "That's impossible…" he muttered and pulled apart the raw skin to get a better look.

Ianto yelped and tried to swat away the doctor's cold hands.

The bullet was working its way out. The muscle and skin were forcing it to move.

Ianto winced as Alan dug his fingers in and pulled out the tiny piece of metal.

"You should be dead," he said and watched curiously as Ianto's back repaired itself.

"I thought I was," Ianto hiccupped.

Ned growled. It was the only sound he could make with his face pressed against the floor like that.

"We have guns Neddy," Danii hissed back. "Keep making a fuss and I might introduce you to some of them."

"But he was supposed to be mortal!" Ned wailed. "I made him mortal! Why isn't he dying?!"

"Maybe you can't control life and death as well as you thought," Jack mumbled.

"It's completely healed," said Alan, clearly astonished. "I'll have to do some tests to be sure, but I'd say you're going to be pretty hard to kill Mr Jones."

Ianto wondered for a moment whether the tests would involve shooting him in different places, but soon shook the thought from his head and turned to Jack. "Do you want me to be mortal again?"

Jack shrugged.

"Why?" Ianto asked, but Jack stayed silent. "Everyone I love is dead or thinks I'm dead. I can't exactly walk back into my sister's life… there's nothing for me to lose."

Jack looked down at the blood on his hands. "There is everything for you to lose Ianto… Do you think I chose to be like this?"

Ianto turned around. "Jack…"

"I would become mortal in a heartbeat, but I can't. I'm stuck like this."

"But… Aren't you glad that…. I mean… If I'm immortal then I won't die," Ianto blushed.

"Of course I'm glad about that!" Jack said, shaking his head. "I just… I know how you'll feel… and I don't want you to feel like that."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "I'm not you," he said simply. "Besides, we'll have each other."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and Jack tried to think up another reason for his worry. In truth, he was trying his hardest not to be happy about this. He didn't want to get his hopes up. This could have been a once off. Maybe next time he would die…

Lis and Danii came over then, dragging Ned in between them. They dumped him on the floor by Ianto.

"Go on," Lis said, not letting go of the man's hand.

"What's he doing?" Ianto asked, preparing to run away.

"Alien boy here is going to tell us what happened to Ianto," Danii said, bobbing down and whispering something in Ned's ear.

Ned looked at Ianto. He held out a hand, but did not touch him. He closed his eyes and for a moment, was completely still. Then he sat back on his knees and looked at his hands. "You're still immortal… I didn't fix you," he said, sounding genuinely sad.

Jack stared at Ianto curiously.

"I can change you back!" Ned ripped free of the girls' grip and launched himself at Ianto.

"Stay away!" Ianto shouted and leaped back. "Keep him away from me!"

Jack hesitated. He looked at Ianto and back to Ned who was being yanked back by Alan.

Ianto knew that Jack was thinking about letting him go. "Jack, please don't let him touch me… Every time he brought me back… every time he did something, I felt as though part of me was being ripped away… I don't want to die again," he whispered. "It was so dark and so cold and being wrenched back into life hurt so much," his voice broke.

Jack stood. He grabbed the back of Ned's shirt and hauled him away from Ianto. He held his hand back and opened it as a gun was placed in it. As he held it to Ned's head, he leaned forward. "Tell me the truth or I swear to God, I will pull this trigger."

Ned's eyes widened and he nodded.

"Is he going to stay like this? Is this immortality going to last forever?" he spoke slowly and clearly, his finger hovering over the trigger threateningly.

Ned looked around Jack to where Ianto stood, wiping the tears from his eyes and neatening out his suit. He looked back to Jack and swallowed the lump in his throat. "As far as I can tell, this is a permanent thing," he said, nasally voice cracking.

Jack nodded slowly and pushed Ned back, lowering the gun and letting it slip from his hand. He turned and couldn't help but smile.

Captain Jack Harkness sat on the bench, looking out at the endless waters before him. He loved this planet. He had seen other worlds, many of them, but he would always return here. To Earth. Earth was his home.

"So, do we know why he was resurrecting people?" Ianto's came from behind him and he sighed. Ianto was his now.

"He wanted to know how to get into Torchwood," Jack twisted around and smiled as he took the cup of coffee from Ianto's hands. "Apparently we had some technology that he was interested in."

Ianto nodded and leaned against the side of the bench.

They sipped at their coffees in silence, glancing at each other every now and then, but hastily looking away if the other caught them watching.

"So, Ianto Jones," Jack said, smiling as he stared off into the distance. "You've got forever. What are you going to do with it?"

Ianto's mouth quirked up at the side and he stared at Jack out of the corner of his eye. "I can think of a few things…"

Jack grinned and slipped off of the bench. "I'll meet you in my office in ten," he said and started to walk off.

"That's ten minutes," Ianto dug the stopwatch out of his pocket and smiled down at it fondly, pushing the button on the top, "and counting."


End file.
